Acids and Bases 10 min answer

A beaker contained 2.0 molL-1 HCl and universal indicator was added. 2.0 molL-1 NaOH was added until the colour stopped changing. Discuss the reaction occurring as sodium hydroxide is added to the hydrochloric acid. In your answer you should:
Explain the relationship between the colours observed and the pH of the solution Explain which ions cause the different colours of the solution Write a word equation for the reaction AND a balanced symbol equation for the reaction.

Keywords: acidic, alkaline, hydroxide ions, hydrogen ions, pH, neutralisation, equal, green, red, purple

 The solution would be red to start with as the pH would be 12. The ions present in solution would be H+. The pH would be low as there is a high number of H+ ions present making the solution acidic. As NaOH is added the solution would go orange, then yellow, then green. When the solution is orange and yellow the pH is still less than 7 as there are still more H+ than OH ions. When the solution becomes green the amount of OH ions added (from the NaOH) cancel out/equal the H+ ions from the hydrochloric acid and form water in a neutralisation reaction. At this stage the pH would be 7. As more NaOH is added the solution then becomes blue and then purple. When the solution is blue the pH is 8 -11 as there are now more OH ions present than H+ ions making the solution alkaline. When it becomes purple the pH is 13 14 as there are now many more OH ions present than H+ ions.
hydrochloric acid + sodium hydroxide sodium chloride + water HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O